The purpose of the molecular biology core is i) to provide and maintain a wide range of equipment to be shared among vision researchers;2) aid investigators by providing a service for those without the facilities for basic or advanced molecular biology techniques;3) help new investigators and students acquire basic molecular biological techniques;4) provide genotyping services for laboratories working with transgenic animals. The resources provided by this module will be applied toward maintenance of existing equipment for shared usage among vision researchers throughout the university, to employ two technical staff and to purchase a quantitative RT-PCR system to relieve pressure on existing machines due to heavy usage. One technician, Ms. Adrienne LaRue Marabelle, will have bench space in Brady Memorial Laboratory (BML) 224 and will handle the genotyping of transgenic animals and will oversee the use of the robotic workstation and microarray core facility. Ms. Marabelle has over 15 years of experience in molecular biology techniques and has been running the microarray facility in the Department of Ophthalmology for the past 10 years. A second technician, Mr. Steven Viviano, will have bench space in SHM-B1O3 and will work with and train post-doctoral fellows and graduate students in various molecular techniques including Western blotting, quantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry. He will also design and prepare plasmids for electroporation or viral transfection for vision research investigators that are not equipped to do so in their own laboratories. The work of Mr. Viviano will be carried out using equipment in the laboratory of Dr. Zenisek and core facilities within the Department of Physiology and will be closely supervised by Dr. Zenisek. Several vision laboratories have primary expertise in electrophysiological, anatomical and computational techniques and core support has been instrumental in enabling these vision researchers to increasingly employ molecular biology techniques in their research. This module has enjoyed considerable usage in the past and will continue to do so in the future. It is anticipated that Drs. Crair, McCormick, Tian and Zenisek will make use of the genotyping service, Drs. Hoh, Rizzolo and Zeiss will make use of the microarray facility, Drs. Coca- Prados, Crair, Hoh, Rizzolo, Tian and Zenisek will make use of core facilities in the Brady Memorial Laboratory building and Drs. Coca-Prados, Crair, Hoh, Rizzolo, Tian, Zeiss and Zenisek will make use of Mr. Viviano's services.